Reenforced pavement and method of laying same



Jan. 16, 1934, C MacCHESNEY 1,943,323

REENFORCED PAVEMENT AND METHOD OF LAYING SAME Filed Aug. 2, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l Jan, 16, 1934. c. M. MacCHESNEY 1,943,328

, REENFORGED PAVEMENT AND METHOD OF LAYING SAME Filed Aug. 2, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 wm w 5.. MW 7 M//%// 2 s 3 mm mm Qw @N @Qsw @Q R m dies Jan 16, 1934. c. M. M CHESNEY REENFORCED PAVEMENT AND METHOD OF LAYING SAME Filed Aug. 2, 1929 Patented Jan. 16, 1934 PATENT OFFICE REENFORCED PAVEMENT AND METHOD OF LAYING SAME Chester M. MacChesney, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Acme Steel Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August 2, 1929. Serial No. 882,924

9 Claims.

This invention relates to reenforced pavements and method of laying the same and the present invention is an improvement upon that described and claimed in the co-pending application of Allen B. Wilson Serial No. 382,889, filed August 2, 1929. The invention relates to reenforced pavements in which continuous lengths of metallic reenforcing material are laid in the pavement, preferably substantially flush with the surface thereof, so that the pavement has an increased resistance to the wear caused by the movement of vehicle or pedestrian traffic thereover, and the principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved reenforced pavement and an improved method of laying the same, involving the step of uniting adjacent sections of the reenforcing material along their edges by novel means so that the reenforcing mat has a substantially unitary structure throughout its area in the finished pavement. By means of the present invention, metallic reenforcing material may be supplied in large rolls and applied to the paving base in parallel sections or strips which are united along their lateral edges preliminary to applying the plastic surface paving material so that the finished pavement is reenforced throughout its area by a substantially Lmitary reenforcing mat adapted to increase greatly the life of pavements subjected to heavy trafiic such as those of the floors and runways of shops, docks, railway stations and the like. A further object of the invention is to provide a flexible metallic reeniorcing mat capable of being readily divided at any desired point along its length to form a section adapted to be laid on the base of the pavement and having a series of devices along the edge of the mat which permits adjacent mat sections to be united on the pavement base. A

further object of the invention is to provide a metallic reenforcing mat for pavements comprising pivotally connected metal strips arranged edgewise to the surface to be reenforced and intermeshing with each other, in combination with a series of connecting pins mounted along one edge of the mat and adapted to engage apertures in an adjacent mat section when the mat is applied to the base of the pavement being reenforeed. Other objects relate to various features of construction and arrangement, and to details of the improved method, which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification taken with the accompanying drawings, in which one example of the improved reenforced pavement is illustrated. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of a roll of the improved reenforcing material employed in the method of the present invention to form the improved reenforced pavement, a portion of the reenforcing material being unrolled;

Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the flexible metallic reenforcing material illustrated in Fig.

1, with a section thereof removed from the supply roll by detaching one of the pivot pins by which adjacent units of the material are pivotally connected;

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of one of the units of the metallic reeniorcing mat shown in Figs. 1 and 2, together with one of the pivot pins or rods detached therefrom and one of the rods employed at the edge of the mat for uniting it with an adjacent mat section on the base of the pavement;

Fig. 4 shows a detail section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 shows a top plan view of portions of two adjacent sections of the flexible reeniorcing mat united along their longitudinal edges by means of the pins which are slidably mounted in one edge portion of each mat section for engagement with apertures in an adjacent mat section when they have been laid in position on the base of the pavement;

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5, showing one of the connecting pins engaging portions of the metal strips which form the mat units of adjacent mat sections;

Fig. 7 shows a top plan view of a portion of a pavement having a part of the base of the pavement covered by the mat sections employed with the present invention and showing a roll of the flexible reenforcing mat partially unrolled on the base of the pavement;

Fig. 8 shows a sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7, illustrating in elevation the roll of metallic reenforcing material;

Fig. 9 shows a top plan view of a completed pavement constructed according to the present invention, illustrating the meshes or pores of the metallic reenforcing material filled with the concrete or other material which forms the surface pavement and showing the edges of the metallic strips exposed at the pavement surface;

Fig. 10 showsa transverse section taken on the line 10 -10 of Fig. 9.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the invention is applied to the form of reenforced pavement, and the method of laying the same which is described and claimed in the cc-pending application of Allen B. Wilson above referred to, according to which there is first formed a paving base constructed preferably of concrete, although it may be formed of wooden flooring, wooden blocks or other material. There is then placed upon this paving base a layer of metallic reenforcing material in the form of a flexible metallic mat formed preferably of a plurality of pivotally connected metallic units each made up of a metal strip or ribbon which isso embedded in the mat that it rests edgewise on the paving base and is presented edgewise to the surface of the completed pavement. When this metallic reenforcing material has been laid in position on the paving base, the surface paving material, such as concrete, asphalt, or the like, is applied to the paving area to fill the spaces of the flexible reenforcing matting with the result that when this stuface paving material subsequently hardens, the metallic reenforcing strips 9., pear at the surface flush with the concrete, asphalt or like, to present a continuous network of metallic material over the area of the pavement, thus greatly increasing the wear-resisting qualities of the pavement.

The present invention relates primarily to an improvement upon the method of paving just described according to which parallel lengths or sections of the metallic reenforcing material, after being laid upon the paving base, are united along their adjacent parallel edges preliminary to applying the plastic surface paving'material thereto and before proceeding to a description of the improved method of laying the pavement, the improved construction of the reenforcing material, embodying the features of the present invention, will be described.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the flexible reenforcing mat 15 is shown as being made up of a plurality of individual transversely extending units 16. Each unit 16 is formed of a sheet metal strip or ribbon which is bent back and forth upon itself in zigzag fashion to form a series of reversely arranged U-shaped convolutions 1-5 each comprising side walls 16* and a connecting end wall 16. As will be apparent from the drawings, the side walls 16* of one U-shaped convolution also form two side walls of two adjacent reversely direcied U-shaped convolutions. At the end of the unit 16, the metal is directed outwardly to form tongues l5 which are, in eifect, half portions of end walls 16. These units 16 are placed together as shown in Fig. 2 so that the U-shaped convolutions of one unit intermesh with those of the next adjacent unit and the side walls 16 of theU-shaped convolutions are provided with apertures 1'7 which are engaged by rods 18, formed of steel wire or the like, thereby establishing a pivotal connection between adjacent units 16 throughout the mat so that it has a flexible construction and is capable of being rolled upon itself to form a cylindrical roll 20, as shown in Fig. l. The

ends of the connecting rods 18 are preferably transversely bent at one end as shown at 18 but the remaining portions thereof are straight so that any desired rod 18 may be withdrawn from the mat 15 when desired to separate a mat section 15 of the desired length, as shown in Fig. 2, where one of the rods 18 has been withdrawn to separate a section l5 from the end of the supply roll. The lower edge of the metal strip which forms each unit 16 rests edgewise on the underlying supporting surface and the walls 16 and 16 of the convolutions are directed vertically from the supporting surface. The holes 17 are similarly located in all of the units 18 so that when the pivot rods 18 are inserted, the lower edges of the connected units 16 are capable of occupying one plane or of conforming to the curvature of the underlying surface. The reenforcing material thus formed may be made up in very long lengths which can be shipped and moved about in the form of rolls 20 and then unrolled on the base of the pavement to supply the lengths or sections desired.

The flexible reenforcing mat above described is provided, according to the present invention, with means for uniting the parallel mat sections on the paving base, which, as illustrated in Figs. 2 to 10 of the accompanying drawings, involves the provision of aligning apertures 21 in a number of the side walls 16 of adjacent convolutions f the mat 15 along one longitudinal edge thereof. These rows of aligning apertures extend inwardly from one edge of the mat and each row of apertures is engaged by a connecting pin 22, the rows of apertures being provided at intervals so that a continuous series of connecting pins are provided in uniform spaced relation along one edge of the mat 15 when it is originally supplied in a roll as illustrated in Fig. 1. The apertures 21 of each row extend inwardly through a sufficient number of the side walls 16' to permit the pins 22 to be pushed inwardly so that their outer ends align with one longitudinal edge of the mat while their inner ends engage imperforated walls 16 of the mat to prevent further inward movement of these pins, as shown at 23, thus locating the outer ends of the pins in substantial alignment with the outer ends of the projecting tongues 16 of the mat units. Along the other edge of the mat, the side walls 16 of a number of convolutions 16 are provided with apertures 21 which are adapted to align with the apertures 21 when two mat sections 15 are placed side by side on the base of the pavement. When two adjacent mat sections have thus been aligned, the pins 22 are moved in the direction of their length transversely of the mat sections into engagement with the apertures 21 the extent of this movement being limited by unperforated walls 16 of the mat units which are sufiiciently near to the edge of the mat to prevent the pins-22 from being withdrawn from all of the apertures 21. The pins 22 then engage aligning apertures in both adjacent mat sections and thus unite them to prevent relative vertical or longitudinal movement thereof. The pins 22 are limited in their movement by reason or the fact that the apertures 21 are provided in a lesser number of side walls 16* than are the apertures 21 in the side walls l6 along the other edge of the mat, whereby the pins may be only partially withdrawn from the rows of apertures 21 due to their engagement with the unperforated side walls 16 as shown at 24 in Fig. 5. The apertures 21 and 21 and also the apert res 17 may preferably be located substantially midway between the upper and lower edges of the mat units or below this middle position, so that the mat must be worn away to a considerable depth before the rods and pins are exposed.

In the operation of laying the pavement, a paving base 25 is first formed of concrete or other suitable material, such as heavy flooring or wooden blocks, and this paving base presents a hard upper surface, which may be either fiat or slightly curved, depending upon the use to which the pavement is to be put, and which is adapted to receive the metallic reenforcing material and the plastic surface paving material. As shown in the drawings, the base 25 is provided at its edge with an upwardly extending curb 26 having a portion 26 extending upwardly some distance above the upper surface 25* of the paving base but if the pavement is to be employed in some location other than a street or roadway, the curbs 26 are ordinarily not employed. The metallic reeniorcing material is then applied to the surface 25 from a roll 20 of the flexible reenforcing material which is unrolled on the base 25 lengthwise thereof with one edge thereof abutting against the portion 26* or" the curb. When a section 15 of the metallic reenforcing material of the desired length has been unrolled, this section is severed from the source of supply by removing one of the pivot rods 18 and then the roll 20 is unrolled over the base 25 alongside the section 15 reviously detached to form another section 15 which is again severed from the supply roll 20 by removing one of the pivot rods 18. This operation is continued, as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, until the entire base 25 has been covered between the curbs 26 by the metallic mat sections l5 which are aligned with each other so that the tongues 16 of adjacent mat sections engage each other endwise and so that the holes 21 of one mat section align with the holes 21 and the pins 22 carried by the next adjacent mat section. The flexible metallic reenforcing material has the advantage that when one roll thereof has been used, the last portion thereof may be united with the end of another roll by inserting one of the pivot pins 18 and a strip or section of the mat may be continued with a new roll to the desired length of the paving base without any break or joint in the longitudinal section. If desired, several rolls of reenforcing material may be unrolled on the paving base at the same time in order that several reenforcing sections or mats may be laid side by side simultaneously. When the sections have thus been laid side by side, the connecting pins 22 are moved in the holes 21 to engage the holes 21 in the next adjacent section, thereby uniting the adjacent mat sections, as illustrated at the right hand side of Figs. '7 and 8.

Having covered the paving base 25 with connected mat sections 15 in the manner described above, the surface paving material, such as plastic concrete, asphalt, mastic or other material 2'7 is poured or otherwise applied to the reenforcing matting to fill the meshes or pores 28 thereof to the level of the upper edges of the mat sections 16, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The pivot rods 18 and the connecting pins 22 are then embedded in the surface paving material 27, leaving only the upper edges of the strips which form th mat sections 16 exposed to form a continuous network of metaHic reenforcing material extending throughout the area or" the surface pavement. The units 16 of the reenforcing matting are preferably made of sheet steel of sufficient softness or ductility so that, after the pavement has been used, the effect of the traffic passing thereover will be to spread out or upset the upper edges of the strips forming the sections 15 of the mat, thereby increasing the area of the strips at the surface and correspondingly increasing the resistance to surface wear.

By means of the improvement of the present invention, the improved reenforcing mat made up of a plurality of pivotally connected units is provided along one edge with a uniformly spaced series of connecting pins which may be readily employed after a section of the mat has been laid for uniting it with an adjacent section, thereby greatly improving the stability of the reenforcing mat as a whole after the pavement has been laid while at the same time serving to maintain adjacent mat section in proper alignment with the plastic surface paving material.

Although one form of the improved reenforcing mat has been described in connection with one embodiment of the improved pavement and the improved method of laying the same, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in various forms and may be practiced in various ways within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of laying a pavement which consists in forming a paving base, applying to said base a plurality of parallel metallic matting sections each having a series of connecting pins slidably mounted therein along one edge and a series of openings along its other edge adapted to align with the connecting pins of an adjacent matting section, moving said pins into engagement with said openings of adjacent matting sections after said sections have been arranged in parallel relation, and then embedding said matting sections in paving material.

2. The method of laying a pavement which consists forming a paving base, applying to said base a plurality of parallel sections of metallic matting, each of said sections being formed of a plurality of sheet metal strips pivotally connected and bent into zigzag formation and intermeshing with each other, uniting said matting sections along their edges, and then filling the spaces between adjacent sheet metal strips of said matting sections with plastic reenfo-rcing material.

3. A reenforcement for pavements comprising a flexible metallic mat made up of a plurality of pivotally connected metal units, and connecting means mounted along one edge of said mat for attaching the same to an edge of an adjacent mat.

4. A reenforcement for pavements comprising a metallic mat, and a plurality of connecting pins slidably mounted in the edge of said mat and adapted to engage apertures in an adjacent mat.

.5. A reenforcement for pavements comprising a metallic mat having apertures therein along one edge, and a series of connecting pins slidably mounted in said mat along its opposite ends for engagement with apertures in an adjacent mat section.

6. A reenforcement for pavements comprising a plurality of pivotally connected metallic units forming a mat adapted to be rolled, said units being provided along one edge of said mat with aligning apertures, and connecting pins movably mounted in said apertures for engaging an adjacent mat section.

'7. A reenforcement for pavements comprising a plurality of pivotally connected metallic units forming a mat adapted to be rolled, said units being provided along one edge of said mat with aligning apertures, and connecting pins movably mounted in said apertures for engaging an adjacent mat section, said mat being provided along its other parallel edge with series of aligning apertures adapted to be engaged by the connecting pins of an adjacent mat section.

8. A reenforcement for pavements comprising 9. A pavement comprising a base, a metallic reenforcing mat extending over said base and composed of a plurality of longitudinal mat sections, each of said mat section-s being made up of a plurality of pivotally connected metallic strips arranged in zigzag fashion to mesh with each other, a series of connecting pins engaging the edges of adjacent mat sections to hold them in assembled relation, and surface reenforcing material having said mat sections embedded therein.

CHESTER M. MACCHESNEY. 

